Rags to Riches
by onlyonceinforever
Summary: The untold story of how the Malfoy family came to be. :ONESHOT:


**Disclaimer: Do we really have to go through this every time? Nothing's changed, I still don't own anything. Well, actually I do, but I think you can figure that out for yourselves.**

**Rags To Riches**

We weren't always this way, you know. It wasn't always about the money and the pedigree. We've always been taught to uphold the family name, but they wouldn't if they knew how it really was. If they knew the truth, it would make their skin crawl.

Our story starts out a long time ago, with my great-times-twelve grandfather. He was nothing like us - and by "us" I mean the Malfoy line of common knowledge - and something of a disgrace to the family name. But, if not for him, our family - if you can call it that - would not be where it is today.

His name was Cletus Malfoy, and he was a street urchin, riffraff, homeless. No matter how you say it - he was a disgrace. Facts don't lie. He wandered the streets of Britain, begging like a pathetic dog for scraps, digging through the dumpsters when no one would concede. Every meal was garbage, if there was a meal at all. His only friends were the rats he scrounged with, for no upstanding member of the human race would be caught dead with such trash.

It is amazing, really, that he managed to survive as long as he did. Neglected hygiene and disease should have done him in considerably before his time. But somehow he persevered.

It wasn't until rather late in his life - by which I mean around his mid-twenties. Life on the street was brutal, and very few made it to their thirtieth birthday - that things changed. It was then that Cletus found himself a little bit of luck.

One day while rooting through the garbage for his daily meal of leftover trash, he found something, something that would change the way he lived his life forever. In the disgusting dumpster, he found a gold ring. And when I say gold, mind you, I mean real gold, not the fake imitation used to scam idiots out of their hard earned money. No, this was not fake in the slightest. It was real, and worth more than Cletus could have ever imagined in his wildest dreams.

At first, he didn't know what to do with this wonderful piece of metal. He could simply throw it back in with the garbage, and be done with it, since the homeless have no use for such jewels. Needless to say, someone would think he had stolen it from some upstanding member of society and would have him thrown in jail for it, despite his protests that he did not. Or, he could keep it.

And keep it he did. But he did not wear it, as others would, as a prize. No, he kept it safe, out of sight from the prying eyes of everyone around him. No one would know what he had found until _he_ was ready to show them.

Cletus kept the ring hidden for a very long time indeed. He pretended that nothing had changed - because, really, nothing had - and continued about his daily routine as usual. But when he was alone, usually late at night when all others were asleep, he would sit in the light of a street lamp and take it out. Then, sitting there on the street where anyone could see him if they only looked, he would stare at it. The man had almost an unhealthy fascination with the thing, and would ponder its mysteries long into the morning hours. But it was always put away, however, before the first of the townsfolk rose from their beds to begin their days. No one would see it - or him - for many hours when he awoke from his hard- earned slumber and repeated the process.

One day, however, things changed. Cletus discovered that he could no longer go about living his life the way he had been for years, not if he wanted to continue that life, anyway. Food was becoming more and more scarce by the day, and sickness plagued the streets of London like the rolling fog, heavily making its way from the coast.

Cletus considered his options: he could either lie down and die, give up on his life that he had worked so hard to maintain over the years, or he could do something about it. Cletus, being a Malfoy after all, decided on the latter. And that is the beginning of the way the Malfoy family earned its place in society.

Cletus headed down to the nearest pawnshop, which was located nearly four blocks from his normal resting place. He was determined to sell the ring for more money than ever thought possible, and then take that money and buy a new life for himself. Things would turn out rather differently, however, as genius struck.

The owner of the pawnshop was a man who most would consider to be a bright man, one who knew his way around antiques and the like. But Cletus thought him for a fool. This short, portly man would never have been able to survive on the streets for more than a day, two at the absolute most. After a few hours of not being fed, he would have run crying to his mommy. Cletus knew exactly how to handle people like that.

When Cletus first walked into that pawnshop, he was greeted by a look of extreme distaste. He could see why, too. After years of living on the street with no means of personal hygiene, let alone a change of clothes, he was not what one would consider "clean." Certainly he was not the type that any well-to-do shop owner would want strolling into his shop at any time of the day or night, let alone the middle of the afternoon. But that particular shopkeeper would soon be singing a different tune, once he saw what Cletus had to offer.

When Cletus first pulled the ring out of one of the innermost pockets of his filthy jacket, the pawnshop owner narrowed his eyes at it suspiciously. He, as most would, thought obviously that this dirty man standing here before him had been up to no good and had purloined this magnificent piece of art from some upstanding member of society while they had been otherwise occupied. Then, he saw the look in Cletus's eyes as the latter gazed at the band of gold. Perhaps there was business to be done here after all.

The pawnshop owner delicately took the ring from Cletus when it was offered to him, mindful not to touch the man himself. Once it was in his hands, the owner could see that this ring was not like any he had seen before. Besides being real, solid gold, the ring was set with small diamonds, the letter 'M' scrawled out in emeralds. Indeed, this ring by itself was worth more than the entire contents of the pawn shop combined. But this lowly street urchin could never have known that, right?

As was to be expected by a shopkeeper trying to earn their living, the pawnshop owner was a sly one. After all, it was his job to swindle people out of their possessions for considerably less money that they were worth. Then, he would turn around and sell them for more than two or three times what he had bought them for, earning himself a pretty penny. Why should this sale be any different?

Because Cletus Malfoy was not one to be toyed with, that's why. No, old Cletus knew when he was being swindled long before he even was and he knew how to turn the tables. This is precisely what happened when the pawnshop owner offered him a considerable, yet vastly under-appreciated amount of money for the ring.

Cletus's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing the man's bargain. He may not have known the precise value of the piece of jewelry, but he did know that it was considerably more that what the pawnshop owner had offered. Instead of up and taking his business elsewhere, Cletus struck a deal of his own.

Instead of allowing the pawnshop owner to _buy_ the ring, he could rent it. Yes, that's right, _rent _it. This way, Cletus would still be in rightful possession of the ring, and the pawnshop owner would still be able to make a bit of cash. The way Cletus proposed it was this - the pawnshop would pay his a lump sum to keep the ring in the shop. Then, every time someone wanted to see it, they would have to pay a small "looking fee." While the majority of the money from this "looking fee" would go to the pawnshop owner, a percent would also go to Cletus. This way, both parties went home happy at the end of the day.

The pawnshop owner was initially very unhappy with this plan. He wanted that ring, and what he wanted, he always got. But Cletus was not one to be swayed easily, and the owner soon saw that the only way to walk away with a partial victory was to agree to his terms.

They shook on it (much to the shopkeeper's disgust) and Cletus walked right back out the door he had come in, and returned to his normal post. Every week, he would stop by the pawnshop and collect the money that the owner had held for him through their deal. The amount was menial at first, but soon grew larger and larger as the news of the ring got out around town. Soon, people were flocking from all over the country to see the work of art, since such were rarely seen in the time.

Eventually, Cletus was able to purchase a home, small, but a home nonetheless, and move off the streets. He was happy there for awhile, but soon grew bored of his new surroundings. Then, he was struck with a brilliant idea.

He went back to the pawnshop and proposed another business venture - since the interest in the ring was so great, why not raise the price of seeing it? Then, both Cletus and the shopkeeper would be making more money and both would be happy. The pawnshop owner agreed, since, as most men, he carried with him the basic flaw of desiring money and power above all else.

Before long, Cletus was moved into a larger abode, one which he was even more satisfied with. But soon he began to desire more again, and returned with yet another idea, one that that the pawnshop owner was none too pleased with.

This time, Cletus would pay back the amount that the pawnshop had originally bought the ring from him for, and would once again be in sole possession of it. The shopkeeper protested that neither of them would make any money this way, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. Cletus Malfoy was moving on to bigger and better things.

When the ring was removed from the pawnshop, the interest in it moved as well. Soon, people were seeking Cletus out for the chance to wear the ring for an evening, just to show it off to their friends. Of course, this would not happen without first paying a hefty price.

And so, Cletus began to rent out the ring, earning more and more money as time went on. Demand for the piece grew, and he had to begin turning down pleas for renting. This turned out for the better, however, as now people were willing to pay even larger sums of cash for the chance to use the ring.

This continued for years, and Cletus was able to continually climb up on the food chain to become one of the richest people in London. He built a manor far from prying eyes and moved in, using one of his smaller places to conduct business.

Eventually, the time came when Cletus finally had enough money to put him and his future family in the black for a very long time indeed. He ceased renting out the ring and instead kept it for himself, spending long hours alone with it, simply staring at its magnificent beauty and pondering the mysteries of its past.

He was alone for many years with only that ring to keep him company. One day, however, while walking the streets to reconnect with the "common folk", Cletus found someone he considered to be worthy of spending eternity with. Her name was Elizabeth, and she was perfect.

Cletus courted her as a man should for the time, and eventually they wed. They later went on to have a beautiful son, Bellum, who would uphold the new legacy of the Malfoy name, as would his son and so on and so forth.

As for the fate of the ring, why, it is the one that rests on the finger of the current Malfoy patriarch, my father, Lucius Malfoy. One day, it will be mine, and my descendants shall know the true story of the way our family came to be.


End file.
